Unfulfilled
by an unE1 st8
Summary: Being in high school Ichigo and Rukia aren't really friends or enemies.But become close when an unexpected incident that takes away Rukia's first kiss against her will results in Ichigo's pride's being trampled on.It leads Ichigo to get close to Rukia,but for all the wrong reasons because revenge is never a good reason to love someone.AU/OOC/M for implied sexuality/lang,no lemon
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer- Bleach is Tite Kubo's property.**

**Note- This chapter is betaed by NieveDrop, without her help this chapter really couldn't have been even half as good. Her feedback is greatly appreciated and I hope I do justice to this story that she's helped me guide through so much.**

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"Ahhh... that felt so good. I'm going to take a shower first and leave. I've early classes tomorrow." An orange-haired male with a lean, yet muscular, body rolled off the thoroughly satisfied girl underneath him. Of course he didn't tell her that he was planning to skip them anyways, but he didn't want to insult the girl who slept with him by running away right after doing the deed.

"Hmm... ok Kurosaki-san. Oh, we haven't exchanged our numbers yet, can you give me yours?" she asked casually. They'd already discussed it and decided there wouldn't be any strings attached—just simple plain old sex and that's it. Even though the young doe-eyed girl knew it was just a one night stand, after he rocked her world, as corny as that sounded, she wanted to see him again.

"I don't mind being just sex buddies. No other expectations, I promise." Well, it was too late for that, because even she knew that she was starting to have serious feelings for the school Adonis.

Kurosaki Ichigo stopped midway through picking his clothes up off the table when he heard that from the girl he thought he told clearly it was just for tonight. He looked at her tiredly, as if saying 'here we go again.' It was troublesome when he had to deal with girls who wanted more and he didn't. How much clearer would he have to be except to resort to reserving a four hour room at a love hotel? She was good in bed, he admitted, but not extraordinary. He also knew how easy it was for people, especially women, to develop feelings from something physical. Realizing that it was a bad idea to keep in contact with her, especially since they both attend the same high school, Ichigo contemplated. But her offer was tempting. After all, he was also susceptible to experience dry spells, and it was his last year in high school. Following graduation, he would not ever see her again; only couple more months of school remained. It'll be just physical anyways, he told himself. Besides, he's the unlikeliest of people to get attached, considering his last sex buddy lasted almost six months before she graduated.

He found himself saying, "Sure, why not? But give me your number. I'll be in touch." He didn't really trust her, and he definitely didn't want to give her hope by giving out his phone number.

As the well-endowed girl sat up, the blanket covering her chest slid off. She showed off her lightly bruised chest with pride to let him know he was the one who did it during their rough love making that she enjoyed. She replied with a pout, clearly disappointed, but she did see the ray of hope when he didn't reject her offer entirely. "Sure, I'll give it to you, if you agree to let me wash you," she purred in her most seductive voice while fluttering her eyes. At least she'll getting something out of it, even if it only meant staying a little bit longer with him right now. Because who knew how long she'll have to wait for his phone call.

Kurosaki Ichigo sighed; she was not going to give up on him. He saw determination in her eyes. She was resolved to make him hers, not right away, but gradually. Maybe he should reconsider her proposal. "What happened to 'no expectations'? Didn't we agree that it was going to be purely physical?"

"Yes, washing you is just physical, no talking or flirting," she said with an innocent smile that hid her devious intentions.

He thought for a minute. Oh damn it, he'll think about it tomorrow. Right now he should just go along with it.

"Fine, we've only got twenty some minutes before check out. Better hurry." Kurosaki made his way to the bathroom with the sun-kissed, curvaceous beauty with a Cheshire grin on her face right on his heels.

ooOOooOOooOOoo

Kuchiki Rukia watched her lab partner, Kurosaki Ichigo, mutter sweet nothings to the blonde across their table.

"Your smile makes you glow. You look like an angel," Ichigo said in a very flirtatious tone.

"Thank you. But I'm lucky to see you smile Kurosaki-kun, since you don't smile a lot. When you do, you look very handsome," the blonde gushed at him trying to be bashful to look cute and innocent, but she came across as a seductress.

"It's because I'm talking to a beautiful girl that it makes me happy... " so continued their shameless flirting in the classroom while everyone else was busy doing their own work.

Kurosaki Ichigo always got on her nerves when he acted like the stereotypical playboy; it made her irritated with him. In class, she had the misfortune of having a seat next to him, which meant that all of his friends, mostly girls, huddled around his desk and took over her space as well. Even when she would point out that it was her seat they were kindly resting their dirty feet on, they'd ignore her and treat her as if she was invisible. But that wasn't what bothered her the most: it was the Casanova persona he assumed with an utter disregard for others that made him seem callous.

One of her close and dear friends had confessed to him, but he rejected her. Instead, he told her that if she wanted, he was available for sex only. Her friend, being as innocent and naive as Rukia herself, was almost tempted to give in. However, Rukia, who was hiding on the side to give her support, jumped out and took her away. She talked sense into her friend while venting her anger about how she shouldn't have let Kurosaki Ichigo treat her that way. She didn't know if she got through to her friend. Even in the end, her friend asked, "But if I like him, isn't it okay to make love with someone I like?" Rukia didn't understand what exactly her friend liked about him. One couldn't simply describe him with a few adjectives. As a result, Rukia found herself observing him, unconsciously at first, and as she found out more about him, he became an interesting being to her.

There were some things that Rukia found to be contradictory in Kurosaki Ichigo. For example, he actually cared about his grades, school work, and clubs, despite always giving off an aura that school can go to hell. She's often seen him at the library studying by himself or staying later at track meets to do his best. He didn't really have many friends, even though he was surrounded by many people. Two of the unlikeliest people in the school were what Rukia deduced to be his friends. One of them was the top of the class and school council president. He had no problem snapping at Ichigo or casually insulting him without Ichigo's retaliation. The other was the quiet giant known as Sado, but only Ichigo referred to him by a nickname, Chad.

He was impulsive, spontaneous with a short temper, and had an element of mystery attached to him. This is why a lot of girls found him so attractive. Of course, it also helped that he looked like a delinquent with his crazy spiky loud orange hair, tan skin enshrouding a lean yet muscular body, and a face some (well, many) considered to be handsome, even with a perpetual scowl constantly etched on it. He assumed a playful personality that was appealing to both sexes, but at the same time, he was a distant person, as if he didn't want anyone to know what he was really like. As Rukia learned more unexpected things about Kurosaki Ichigo, the more she became confused about him. She found him interesting but callous. It was as contrasting as saying, "he is a good person but has a terrible personality."

As a result of how he treated her friend's genuine feelings for him—reducing them to an offer of casual sex, without properly rejecting her—was reason enough to snap at Kurosaki Ichigo at every little thing he did. She didn't care if she was being outright rude when she would snatch the papers from his hand when she collected his homework.

At this moment, Rukia was tired of hearing her lab partner and the blonde's inane cheesy ramblings. It wouldn't have bothered her normally, but unfortunately Ichigo was her lab partner, and she needed him to pull his weight. She turned to him, annoyance obvious on her face. "Kurosaki, would you please pay attention to the solutions in the tube instead of flirting? Unfortunately, my grades are precarious, especially when I'm paired up with you, so please at least take care not to inconvenience your lab partner," Kuchiki Rukia stated the last part somewhat condescendingly.

The orange-haired teen turned to her suddenly, donning an irritated grin because she had interrupted his flirting session. He looked over the girl whose pride, as he had observed the first day being paired with her, belied her very small stature and violet doe eyes. She wouldn't give him the time of the day and always threw insults at him. At first, he thought she was trying to get his attention by acting like that, but he found out that wasn't the case.

_She and her auburn-haired friend stood at their lockers in the morning. With their backs to him, they didn't notice him standing behind them. He could clearly hear their conversation, and he paid close attention when his name was said with venom by the dark-haired, petite girl._

_"How can you say that Inoue? Kurosaki is the most superficial person I've ever seen, and you like him?" Rukia inquired with disapproval evident in her voice._

_"Yes. I think he's handsome, caring, smart, and fun. I don't even know when I started to like him; it just happened. I still want to let him know my feelings, even if he rejects me." Inoue said softly, but she could understand her friend's worry._

_Ichigo was kind of looking forward to Inoue's confession because she was a looker, but she was the innocent and naive type whose world probably would revolve around one person if she became serious about them._

_"Inoue, you have seen, as well as I, how he behaves around people and treats girls. Do you really like the type of person who doesn't care for anyone and isn't afraid to stomp on their feelings?" Rukia tried vehemently to dissuade her friend._

_"But he's not like that. He's very nice sometimes and cares for people who are close to him," Inoue tried to defend Ichigo._

_He was surprised that someone actually perceived him that way. Usually he didn't care about people's opinion of him, but it was interesting that she liked him despite all his faults. He was tempted to test how far she'd go for him._

_Still unbeknownst to Rukia and Inoue, Ichigo left them talking, while Rukia sighed heavily, giving up on trying to change her friend's mind. She couldn't do much other than support her when the time came._

_It was, of course, no surprise when Inoue confessed to Kurosaki Ichigo later that same day. She really looked like a cute and naive girl whose first love was Ichigo. He wanted to see if she would still like when he suggested that he wouldn't date her but just have sex with her. Inoue looked shocked to say the least, but Ichigo didn't change his cocky expression standing in a way that she better give him an answer soon because he was ready to bolt otherwise._

_After recovering from her initial shock, she looked ready to cry and stuttered her first few sentences. "I-I think you said that y-you don't want to date m-me, but just want to make l-love?"_

_"No I didn't say make love. I mean we will only meet to have sex, then leave. We won't talk to each other in public, on the phone, or email. Our only relation will be just physical." He coolly listed this off as if reading a part of a contract._

_He could see hope glimmer in her eyes. It was so perceptible that she was still optimistic about the situation. He guessed that she was considering this seriously in the hopes that he'd come to like her. But that never happened. The girls who wanted him to return their feelings jumped into such relationship with him, anticipating that his feelings would change over time through such means. When that didn't happen, they got tired of waiting and left him._

_Inoue would probably stay with him forever without asking anything in return, but he wasn't such a sadist to do that to a person he clearly didn't have any feelings for._

_He was about to laugh it all off as a joke and reject her properly, when her friend jumped in out of nowhere. Kuchiki Rukia took her away, almost yanking her by the arm while giving him a glare that said, "I only expected this from you."_

That was the first time he became conscious of Rukia or knew of her existence. She was in the same class with him, sat on his left side, and always paid attention to the instructors. She didn't talk to many people, though she did have a few friends. He noticed her but was not interested until she started to openly display her clear dislike for him. Recently, he noticed her acting differently around him. She wasn't cold to him or outright rude, but she didn't mind snapping at him when they worked together.

Her constant snide remarks at him included, "I hope I don't catch an STD from being in the same vicinity as you," or "Your heart must be good as new, seeing you never used it.*" The statements surprised him initially, but nowadays they were rare.

They'd been assigned to work together in lab for remainder of the year, but he knew nothing of her other than the fact she was short-tempered around him. Otherwise, she was a closed shell. As he looked at Rukia now, his lips curled into a smile, and his eyes reluctantly came to rest on her. "Kuchiki, I've been doing my part of the lab work, just taking a break," he lightly dismissed her.

"If you read carefully, Kurosaki, you would know you're supposed to be observing the changes in the solutions and recording in our notebook. So far, you've been giving your attention to the blonde across the table, unless you have eyes in the side of your head that are recording these results," she quipped with a roll of her eyes and anger toward her partner for not taking her seriously. They were partners; they should be working together, wasn't that logical?

"Oh, sounds like someone's jealous. Are you annoyed that I'm flirting with her?" He was joking of course, but he saw her turn beet red—he suspected from anger.

"A-as if! I've already told you that I don't like you," she snapped indignantly, her voice rising.

Ichigo chuckled. He got her worked up for the first time; now he knew what got on her nerves. He pushed forward, baiting her. "So you say Kuchiki. You know, I've been wondering this for a while. You insult me all the time, as if going out of your way to do so. It's all really too suspicious. If you really hated me then you'd ignore me outright, especially knowing the kind of person I am. Maybe you don't hate me at all… maybe you actually like me." He leaned in close to her when he whispered that part in her ear. Her ears turned red from the tickling of his hot breath on them.

Kuchiki shoved him away. "I-I don't like you." She hated that she wavered a bit, but continued, "We're not in grade school anymore where we bully the one we like."

"Oh so you at least admit that you're bullying me?" Ichigo smirked in amusement at her slip of tongue.

"Think of it whatever you like. But don't think that I am trying to flirt with you." She turned away from him and went back to writing in her lab notebook, though slightly trembling. They were almost finished, except for the clean up.

Ichigo still didn't give up on her. He found her buttons to push just like she pushed his. "So you say. But what if I say that I'm trying to flirt with you?"

Trying to stay unaffected by him, she scoffed, ignoring him. But Ichigo was persistent.

"I get it. You're playing hard to get. I haven't chased after a girl for a long time. I don't mind chasing after you, if it makes you feel more desirable," he continued to half whisper in his deep and seductive voice. He took delight in watching her body reactions, especially when she kept making errors as she wrote in her notebook and almost broke a test tube while washing it. At least he knew he was affecting her, even if she was being obstinate about it.

Rukia turned to him, her face completely red, partly from embarrassment and partly from anger. "Stop thinking every girl is after you. It's embarrassing to see that you're so full of yourself."

"But every girl is after me, and I think it's more like you're denying it to yourself that you don't like me. I can clearly see that you're beet red from blushing. Just give into temptation, I can tell you want me... " He moved his hand up her face, touching her softly and leaning in closer until he was nose to nose with her. Before Rukia could back away or push him away, he caught her lips with his own in a kiss. Her eyes bulged out of their sockets almost from the shock. Her sudden gasp from being kissed out of the blue only encouraged Ichigo as he took it as a sign of pleasure. Rukia's protests were muffled by his mouth upon hers. She tried to force him away with her hands on his chest, but her touch also had the opposite effect. She was not the only one surprised. When they heard the clanking of lab equipment, the whole class turned to see the least likely pair making out in the middle of the class.

Ichigo only intended to scare her by intimidating her. He didn't mean to carry it out all the way, and he definitely didn't foresee the consequences of his impulsive action. But when he was nose to nose with her, he decided to taste her pink lips, giving into his more malicious intentions. It had been a long time since he indulged in something as simple as kissing. As a rule, he never kissed his sex buddies because it was a very intimate gesture acknowledged by both sexes. Kissing Kuchiki Rukia was not bad despite her obvious inexperience in the area. He wouldn't mind showing her more kissing techniques, he joked to himself.

She tried to push him away, but he only pulled her in closer, not willing to end the kiss until he made her feel what every other woman feels. When she felt it, she involuntarily let out a moan. He knew that he would have her as soon as she melted into his kiss—that would certainly break her pride. What he didn't expect was sudden pain and the taste of copper in his mouth. Pulling away he observed Rukia glowering at him with rage, and her eyes glazed as if she was about to cry any minute.

She bit down on his lip very hard, breaking the kiss. His lip was throbbing from pain, and his blood soaked her lips red. He glared at with equal intensity from the pain she bestowed upon him. Other students standing close by saw the way Rukia pushed Ichigo repellently.

"You asshole! What do you think doing whatever you please? Did your brain malfunction when I clearly told you that I didn't want you?! How could you shamelessly force yourself on me after that?! Apologize to me," she demanded, clearly livid. Even if she was trembling, her voice didn't waver. Even if she didn't get any support for going against the popular Kurosaki Ichigo, even if she was scared and risked being isolated, she wanted to defend her pride.

Ichigo was shocked by her bite and embarrassment of him. If anything, she should be the one apologizing to him. "Apologize?" he laughed bitterly. "Shouldn't you be the one apologizing and thanking me? You were the one who was moaning, then bit me out of the blue." He cleaned his lip with the tissue a helpful girl had given to him, her eyes throwing daggers at Rukia while showing sympathy for Ichigo. He noticed Rukia was shaking as if her legs would buckle any minute, she was trying to look strong, even if she looked anything but.

Rukia blushed deeper at this. She couldn't help the physiological reaction she had to the kiss. Although it felt good, it also felt dirty because she'd been kissed with the wrong intentions and without her consent. Anyone would have had a strong reaction to being kissed so passionately. As it was her first kiss, it only made her angrier when she realized it was taken away from someone like Kurosaki—the type of person who did such a thing without feelings. In spite of his efforts to daunt her, she didn't back down. His words only served to provoke her further.

"You're lucky that I'm not asking you to perform Dogeza."

All the students had practically gasped in surprise at hearing her demanding a Dogeza from the resident playboy. Nobody could imagine Ichigo prostrating himself on the ground to humble himself and offer his sincere apology. It would be a blow to anyone's pride, especially someone like Ichigo, who didn't like anyone insinuating he was wrong.

Ichigo scoffed to say, "as if." She was unbelievable. Many of the students in the class thought so, too, with the way this unpredictable incident was taking place.

She was even more frustrated when he casually dismissed her, her feelings, and her being, as if Kurosaki was free to step on them as he pleased. Who did he think he was just because a few girls gave him attention? Rukia clenched her fists and spoke coldly as if there was a storm raging inside her. She repeated in a low voice, "Apologize for this indecent behavior, Kurosaki." Rukia wouldn't give up on something she knew she clearly deserved from a brat like Kurosaki Ichigo.

Like he would compromise his pride by apologizing to someone who was self-righteous. He took a few steps forward and brought his face closer to her, making Rukia lean her head back. She was scared that he would attempt the same disgusting action again. But he simply smiled and stated in a arrogant voice, "No."

She gritted her teeth and looked at his warm brown eyes with her cold ones filled with rage. Then she lifted her hand up and connected it hard with his cheek.

Kurosaki Ichigo stood stupefied from what just happened. He didn't feel the piercing sting on his cheek; instead, he felt something more agonizing—the stares and pity from his classmates while his pride was stomped upon publicly.

The rest of the students in the class let out another audible gasp at a momentous event that they never imagined to occur. Some of the boys snickered at the way Kurosaki Ichigo was brought down to humbleness, but the girls all glared at Kuchiki as if promising to kill her on the spot for doing something so vile to him.

Kuchiki Rukia herself couldn't believe what she had done. Something in her snapped when he taunted her. When he refused to apologize, he hurt her pride. He took away something precious like her first kiss. He deserved that after the disgusting way he behaved toward her.

With a superior lift of her head, though still shaking and trying to recover from what she'd just done, she tried to keep a fearless face. As if on cue, the bell rang to signal the change of classes and brought the whole class out of their stupor.

With that, Kuchiki packed her belongings and headed out to her next class followed by the rest of the class. However, Kurosaki Ichigo remained behind with an empty expression on his face. Many came up to him to console him, but his expression remained dark, and he dismissed them.

That was a surprising reaction. He expected she would be mad, but he didn't think she'd go as far as standing up to him and confronting him bravely in front of so many people, let alone slap him. If she hadn't slapped him, he would've let her off, but the way she showed her repulsion towards him, he'd have to show her exactly how repulsive he truly can be. Kissing her certainly turned out to be a memorable experience for him, and he'd make sure it would be for her, too.

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*Actually that phrase I read it online somewhere, but instead of heart it was brain. I found it funny and it stuck to my mind.

Also, Dogeza is almost as same as prostrating except it is lowering yourself (self esteem wise) lower to show sincerity.

I think I will finish this story first before going back to my other ones, I became unhappy with the way I wrote them, so I'm revising them (slowly).

Thank you for reading. Ch 2 is in progress.


	2. Chapter 2

**This chapter is beta'd by NieveDrop. I thank her for keeping this story on track so far. It's harder than I thought, :O**

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The next day, the incident had spread throughout the school. Some didn't care, some rejoiced, and some took it upon themselves to avenge Kurosaki Ichigo's humiliation.

Kuchiki Rukia arrived to her homeroom early. At the sight of her seat, she almost fell back in shock to see her desk littered with trash and profanities written on it in permanent marker. She heard snickering from a group of girls, who looked at her then laughed amongst themselves, at her most likely. Others just stayed out of it and simply pretended they didn't see anything, continuing to talk normally with their friends.

Rukia's only friend in the class, Inoue Orihime, came up to her with worry and sympathy clear on her face. "Kuchiki-san, are you okay?"

Rukia stood still, her eyes wide. Not knowing what to do next, she suddenly felt like crying at seeing her desk in such condition. But she calmed herself down at the sight of her friend and snapped out of some of the shock and let out a breath she was unexpectedly holding. At least she wasn't completely isolated. She could care less about what others thought of her; it wouldn't hinder her life. Inoue Orihime walked over to her friend quickly, her eyebrows pulled in together and her lips curled downward.

"It's fine Inoue, I expected this, and I can handle it myself if they try anything too serious. Thanks for worrying about me." She smiled at her friend and didn't want her to think that she was letting little bullying get to her.

"No problem Kuchiki-san. I know it'll get better. People usually get over things like this pretty fast," Inoue said as a way of encouragement, but she didn't meet Rukia's eyes.

Rukia walked back to her desk with a purpose. She started to pursue her clean up single-mindedly, as if to push everything else out. Though Inoue also started to help her friend clean up her desk, she didn't know what else she could say to make her friend feel better.

Sometime later, another person joined them, taking them by surprise. Rukia jolted back at the sudden sight of orange bending down to pick up the trash from under her desk. When he stood up, Kurosaki Ichigo found himself looking into a pair of bewildered violet eyes. He smiled at her, which only made a shiver run up her spine. It was all too surreal and suspicious.

Rukia knew enough about Kurosaki Ichigo to know, with certainty, he didn't order anyone to do this to her; it was all his friends' doing. But then why did she feel uncomfortable with him being in a close proximity to her? Could yesterday's incident still be weighing on her mind? Nonetheless, she didn't want him to see that this kind of thing affected her so she kept calm.

He continued to help her clean up while Rukia stood shell-shocked. She was sure that he would ignore her or treat her with cold contempt.

"Y-you! What are you doing here?" she stuttered, and her throat had gone dry. She had a foreboding sense of something worse to come.

"I'm helping you clean up," he stated simply.

''I can see that. But why?" she asked warily.

"Because I want to," he smiled at her again, a silly smile.

This really was too weird for Rukia to digest. Was this Kurosaki's good twin? She didn't want to give into whatever game he was playing. Rukia clenched her fists and hardened her look, "I don't know what you're trying to do, but leave." She yanked the paper towel he was using to clean her desk.

Then the same group of girls who vandalized Rukia's desk approached him soon after to try to take him away.

"Kurosaki, why are you here and talking to a loser like her? She's just trying to get your attention acting like that," spoke the self appointed princess of the class. She threw a glare full of contempt in Rukia's direction.

The class princess's other friends also joined in, "Kurosaki-san, have you forgotten how she insulted you yesterday? She thinks she's always right and above everyone. She looks down on us, while playing the innocent victim in front of the teachers. Look at how she's still such a snob; she thinks it's below her to talk to you."

The class princess tried to link her arm with Ichigo's and steer him away from Rukia's seat, but he disengaged his arm from hers. Ichigo seemed unaffected by it all. He simply kept his smile on all the time, which only served to charm the girls further.

When the girls still did not give up on absconding with him and reiterating that what happened to Kuchiki is far less than what she deserved, he turned to them. "Doing this is a sign of an ugly personality. Please don't say or do mean things to others like this. It doesn't suit your cute looks." The smile stayed plastered on his face. He was of course condescending, but the girls didn't seem to notice that. They blushed from embarrassment and in awe of their idol's gentle personality and reprimand.

One girl came forward. "I-I'm sorry Kurosaki-kun. I was angry at the way you'd been humiliated yesterday." She hung her head low to show her shame.

Ichigo patted it and stated, "I know you aren't bad, so please apologize to Kuchiki-san by helping her clean up."

Though the girls were happy Ichigo forgave them, they begrudgingly helped Rukia, even if they truly did not feel sorry for her.

Meanwhile, Rukia was blushing to the roots and couldn't help but feel like she was a damsel in distress who was (unwillingly) saved by a prince she dislikes. Seeing him charm the girls into doing what he wanted confirmed Rukia's impression of him, and it aggravated her. He really didn't care for people much. Yet, it went too far to say he saw them as playthings. Even so, she couldn't help but get an impression that he knew the control he had over people even if he refrained from practicing it (much). She had to admit he handled them expertly without compromising his image. But he was trying to get something from her by acting like nothing happened between them. This much she knew and made her be on her guard.

While Rukia made a resolution not to associate with Kurosaki in any way, the same object of her thoughts told her something that made her jump.

"If anything like this happens to you again, let me know, and I'll deal with it." Then he walked away.

Like hell she would go to him! She made up her mind to do the least with him as possible. Being associated with such a guy would bring her only unwanted attention and problems. Because she still perceived him with a suspicious mind, she couldn't help but wonder if he had ulterior motives. How wrong was she that even if she made up her mind to avoid him, Ichigo didn't share the same sentiments?

"Mind if I join you for lunch?" Kurosaki sat down casually at one of the cafeteria tables without waiting for Rukia's reply. Rukia sat alone as Inoue stayed back to help a teacher sort out some papers.

Rukia looked at Ichigo with questioning eyes, bewildered, obviously uncomfortable, and anxious that he was sitting with her. He started eating, apparently oblivious to her shifting form caused by internal distress. A week already passed since the incident. They inadvertently avoided each other, or at least that's what Rukia thought. Although, she noticed him from her seat in the library near the window, and he always stood near her when he was talking to someone. Was it always like this or was Rukia suddenly too conscious of him? They hadn't interacted, but he was always prominent in her field of vision.

Ichigo saw her fidgeting uncomfortably, but he was being dense on purpose. Someone like her was the type who obsessed over their firsts due to being too emotional. That was what Ichigo wanted to get from her, in revenge. How can he let her get away with embarrassing him in front of the whole class? Not to mention the incident spread throughout the school and made him the butt of some jokes or at the receiving end of their sympathy. All the while, she escaped unscathed. In rightfully avenging his humiliation, he planned to teach her a lesson and redeem his pride. Usually Ichigo kept his short temper in check and tried not to get easily provoked by people, even if he is incited. He fought back only to defend himself; he did not intend to hurt the other person. Defending himself: that was what he is doing now, he justified.

In addition, he was entitled to make Kuchiki Rukia compensate for humiliating him and the only way he that happening was by making her submit to him. He would break her holier than thou and her snobbish attitude that made her believe he was beneath her, someone so revolting that she couldn't stand to be alone with him. He will break her by making her realize that she was no different than all the other girls who were filled with the same lust, same wantings that every girl is reduced to when they fall in love. She will soon be offering herself to him the same way, to take her and make her his, she just didn't know it yet but he planned to make it happen, slowly.

He was sure Rukia still was unable to put the "unpleasant" incident out of her mind. Being in front of her constantly, he'd make sure that's what happens. Already she avoided him completely. Even if she kept a cool face, she didn't snap or glare at him like usual. In fact, she made sure not to meet his eyes at all. He wanted to tease her a little, ruffle her feathers. To do so, he stayed near her, in her sight but never talked to her.

"Oh aren't you hungry? If not, I can take care of that pudding for you," he joked, like they were old and close friends.

"Eh?" she sputtered, frazzled from her daze at the sudden materialization of Kurosaki Ichigo in front of him.

"Don't worry, if you don't want to give it to me, I'll buy another." He smiled to assure her.

Rukia narrowed her eyes at him and wondered if he was avoiding the elephant in the room. Acting so close to her, helping her, wouldn't he think that she'd notice it? Or in the least, be suspicious of him? Since the morning events, Rukia was all the more apprehensive. She wondered why he was going out of his way to even sit and have lunch with her. Maybe to ward off more bullies? Speaking of which, she realized nobody tried to do anything to her, though her classmates isolated her and made no efforts to hide it either.

"I didn't really need your help this morning," said Rukia in a slight sullen tone. She didn't feel like eating rest of her lunch for some reason after Kurosaki showed up.

"Shouldn't you be thanking me instead? I helped you clean up, you know, and I know that no one's tried to throw dirty water on you or tried to trip you." Ichigo jested, also realizing the truth of his statement: no one tried to physically bully her. In big city high schools such as these, bullying was a common—though avoidable—occurrence.

"So why are you acting so familiar with me all of sudden? Do you want something from me?" She looked directly at him with one of her eyebrows raised

He continued to eat and seemed unbothered by her questions. "You're really straightforward aren't you?" Ichigo chuckled, looking at her, and took another bite of his sushi before continuing, "it's because I want to apologize."

That floored Rukia. Whatever he had up his sleeve, this was something she didn't expect. "Apologize for what?" She wore a cold expression throughout to show him that she didn't trust him. However, Ichigo seemed to disregard it completely and talked and ate lunch with her casually. Any efforts from Rukia's side to intimidate him were useless so far, and she neared the edge of her patience. This was getting on her nerves. She was caught up in his pace, and he did not give her straight answers.

She finally slammed her hands down with a loud thud to get his attention. "Stop acting so casual and talk to me properly!" she yelled, too loudly, as other students stopped what they were doing and stared at the duo. Were they going to witness another spectacular fight between them?

Sensing all eyes on them, Rukia calmed herself down while scolding herself not to lose her composure so easily. She settled for a stare at the orange-haired and trying-to-be-oblivious teen, who showed no sign of being affected by her or others. She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. She didn't have to deal with this, she thought to herself. Simply get up and walk away was the best thing to do and that's what she did.

Ichigo noticed this and followed her. He still wasn't finished talking to her.

"What are you trying to do?" Rukia didn't meet his eyes, but she sensed he was walking beside her. She knew she would have to endure him for rest of the lunch period while keeping her anger in check.

"I told you. Apologize."

"And I repeat, what for?" Rukia was irked at being led around in circles.

Ichigo sighed and looked at her with an unwavering gaze, "I want to apologize for yesterday. I realized that I was in the wrong. I shouldn't have behaved that way with you," he finished softly.

"Huh?" Rukia laughed out loud at hearing that. She looked over to him to see if he was serious. Apparently he was. Her laughter subsiding, she asked him, "Why the sudden change of heart? You were so vehemently against it yesterday."

They were in away from the bustling students, but there were still some who sat in the courtyard eating their lunch, though too far away to listen to Rukia and Ichigo's conversation.

"That was until you slapped me. I could tell you really were angry and that I'd hurt your feelings. I was being too self-centered and didn't consider what you didn't want." He was fidgeting.

Was this his first time apologizing? Rukia still found it too fantastic for Kurosaki Ichigo to turn over into a new leaf just because she slapped him. "You expect me to believe that?" she asked mockingly.

"That's up to you, but I do want you to forgive me truly." He ran one of this hands through his unruly orange hair and furrowed his brows with worry and maybe a little anguish. Rukia stood for a moment reflecting the situation. Ichigo saw her concentrating hard fighting an internal battle. "Look, I know that it is unbelievable for you. If you want to take a little time to think about it, I'll wait for your response. I just want us to part on good terms. This is our last year."

There were no deceptive words flowing from his mouth, but she was still hesitant. "What if still don't forgive you?" she asked carefully.

"Then I'll keep asking you and repent in any way you want me to." There was no hint of doubt in his voice, just resolve.

"What makes you think that I will forgive you?"

"Because I know you're a good person deep down. You don't hold grudges, and you like to give people another chance." he responded passionately.

Rukia blushed again at being complimented but couldn't bring herself to believe him. "Maybe I'll make an exception in your case and prove you wrong." She walked away from him.

"But I'll still keep trying!" he called after her retreating form, not at all discouraged at her response.

At night, lying in her bed, all the events of the day came back to Rukia, and it felt surreal to her when Kurosaki Ichigo approached her. She reflected on it all. It still confounded her that he suddenly wanted to apologize to her. Overnight, he had an abrupt change of heart? That was hard for Rukia to digest. But was she being too cynical? What if he really regretted his actions? Ichigo wasn't the type of person leave things unfinished; she knew that much about him. He always made things clear. Was it too far-fetched to think that him apologizing was a way to conclude things? If she forgives him, it also ends the awkwardness she felt whenever she saw him. She wasn't so petty to hold grudges forever when the other person clearly showed repentance, but did Ichigo show it? It didn't matter anymore. What happened, happened. Neither he nor she could take back anything. Maybe it was better to get everything over instead of skirting around and not bother each other anymore. Rukia fell asleep with these parting thoughts and hoped she would have a clear mind tomorrow.

The next morning, Rukia went through her usual routine with the exception that she kept her eyes out for Kurosaki Ichigo. He didn't come to his locker today; he sometimes came after class. Rukia made up her mind, and before she lost her motivation, she wanted to get over it, as much for her sake as his. She took out a sheet of paper, scribbled a note on it, folded it, and put it into Ichigo's locker.

They didn't have time to talk in class. Even if they did, it's not like they could talk about their personal affair in the open anyways. Rukia waited patiently until lunch hour came, while Ichigo also minded his own business.

Rukia waited near the school greenhouse, an area where not many people frequented due to strict school rules. Fortunately for her, because she was in the gardening club, she had access. She sat down on the wooden bench that was hidden in the foliage. It was her favorite seat in the whole school. Not only was it comfortable but strangely relaxing.

At least fifteen minutes passed. She's sure she wrote that she would wait for him at the greenhouse at lunch. He might plan to eat his lunch first. It's not like she told him to come as soon as their lunch period started. She leaned back on the bench to soak in the sun. Closing her eyes, her arms lie on seat on either side of her, and her legs extended with only both her heels resting on the ground. Before closing her eyes, she told herself not to fall asleep, no matter how tempting the good weather was. But she did.

Groaning, she woke up from her nap in a drowsy state, her vision blurry and unable to focus on anything. From somewhere she heard someone chuckle. Quickly, she whipped her head to her right to find Kurosaki Ichigo looking at her with a grin on his face.

He was half turned towards her, his left arm rested on the back of the seat and his left leg folded under him. "You know it's rude to call someone out and then fall asleep on them," he joked.

"Er… I'm sorry. I fell asleep because it's so nice out, and this place is really calming... " she drifted off with her cheeks blushing. Why did she have to explain all that to him? They were there for a purpose, not to chit chat. Sitting up straight, she looked at him coolly, "you should've woken me."

"I called your name, but you didn't even stir. I figured you were sleeping pretty deeply. I didn't want to disturb you. Didn't get enough sleep last night?"

Rukia blushed thinking back to last night. She refused to tell him that she spent most of the night thinking about him and did not fall asleep until after midnight. She diverted his attention to the cause of their meeting. "Anyways, I've called you to consider what you asked me of yesterday."

"Oh you mean whether you'll forgive me?" he inquired nonchalantly. That surprised her; he was so earnest yesterday, and now it was like he could care less.

"Well... yes. You see, you were right that I'm not the type of person to hold grudges against people, so I after thinking about the whole thing, I think we should part on neutral terms."

Ichigo let out a laugh that made Rukia look at him with perplexity.

"What's so funny? I thought you wanted to have a clean conscience," she asked in an incredulous tone, aghast at his reaction. Was she being made fun of?

"I do want you to forgive me, but it seems that it's more for your benefit than to actually acknowledge my apology," he accused.

"What are you trying to say?" She couldn't figure him out. He was so unreadable that no one could figure out what was on his mind.

"I mean you had a bad experience with your first kiss taken. With me apologizing, the effect of that 'trauma' won't leave you scarred for life. You didn't think about what I went through to apologize to you, how hard it was to put together enough confidence after being slapped by you in front of the whole class," he stated bitterly, he enunciated the word 'trauma' to emphasize he was hurt by her reaction.

Rukia was taken aback at his harsh tone. She couldn't deny she was only thinking of herself, not him. He put his confidence on the line to apologize to her.

She looked at him again, her eyes downcast. "You may be right, but I didn't completely disregard your feelings. I think that you're a serious and straightforward person, who doesn't like to leave things unfinished. I'm doing this after considering you really regretted it and won't do it to anyone in the future. I hope there won't be any awkwardness between us now. We should stay good colleagues and go our ways as such." Rukia was sincere in her thoughts and hoped that Ichigo accepted them.

She got up to leave, but Ichigo stopped her. "Wait. I'll believe that you've really forgiven me if you eat lunch with me every day for a month."

She staggered, "What? How is that related?"

"If I'm seen with you on good terms, everyone will know that you've finally forgiven me, and I won't look like a molester in the eyes of some people," he explained simply.

"But, what if I just tell everyone that you regretted your actions and I'm over it, too," she offered.

"No. If you forgiven someone, you usually become on good terms with them. Wouldn't it be weird if you still stay away from me and avoid me even after that?"

"That seems a little too much for something like this. Besides, I thought you didn't care what people thought." She wasn't doubting him, but she was unsure about it all. She didn't think she could stand to spend an hour for a whole month: a month of monopolizing him, getting glares from girls, and feeling like Ichigo's scrutinizing her.

"I don't care what people think, but when I've suddenly become a potential rapist in people's eyes, I think even I have to draw the line at that."

Rukia bit her lower lip and furrowed her brows shifting in spot uncomfortably. She was unsure and felt she shouldn't agree to it. But she couldn't get out of it. What he said was true, and something more than his reputation was at stake. Further, she already was accused of being selfish when she accepted his apology. "O-okay... for a month then," she hesitantly agreed to it.

Ichigo smiled widely at her, showing his gratefulness on his face which also had implications for her future, Kuchiki Rukia didn't realize that she was playing into his hands. She had fallen for his bait and now only needed to be caught by him.

"Great, we'll eat together tomorrow." After saying that he got up and left a dumbfounded Rukia behind, who still couldn't believe what she had agreed to.

* * *

I have the anon review off, but there was one by by Tensa that I allowed to be published bc he/she brought up a valid point and I'd like to address it. Though, the setting is high school, I hope not to revolve too much around it since I am not too good at it. I am trying to stay on track with just the character development that will influence the plot (also a reason y ch 3 will take a bit longer), but I don't want it to be totally unrealistic without incorporating some elements that r present in a high schooler's life. I had to choose the high school setting bc the characters r the right age and their current as well as future actions will be justified by their age (and hormones).

And I'm noticing my chps r 4k words or more, I don't think I'll be able to keep this word count up, it may dwindle to 2.5k-3.5k words soon.


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